Title: "Missing: Mello"

Author: Alexa Moon

Disclaimer: Has it not been mentioned that this is a FANFIC?

Summary: He was the one without emotions. It had always been that way. Yet here the boy was, crying in his arms. Today was just not Matt's day.

Warning: Characters may be somewhat OOC

The day started out like usual. The Wammy House orphans woke up, prettied themselves up for the day, and received their daily breakfast. That was with the exception of three mischievous heirs. Matt, Mello, and Near. These children were currently located within the haunted mansion next door, exploring.

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Mello?"

Sure enough, when the red head looked around Near and himself there was no blonde headed chocolate addict. "Not again! I am not going to look for the bloody prat!" cried the ginger. "You can search on your own!"

Sometime (between 1 week through 1 month) Before

"Matt, where is Mello?"

The ginger looks behind him, and sure enough the overly dramatic teen is nowhere in sight. "I don't know. Probably got distracted by something." he says. Under his breath he mutters, "Let us hope he gets possessed by a ghost. Maybe then I'll be able to save the virtual world in peace."

"Shouldn't we look for him?"

"Nah, he'll be fine."

"No, we have to look for him!" cried Near as he tackled Matt. "Come on." he said, pulling on the sleeve of Matt's shirt. Matt followed, if only because of the shock he experienced at Near's angry outburst.

The first room they entered (besides the foyer they had started out in) was a small dingy bathroom. The blue paint was chipped, white tiles were barely visible due to the lack of lighting, and they could hear the small drip, drip, of a leaking faucet.

In the corner of his eye, Matt could see the shower curtain move. "Mello?" There was a loud creak as the shower curtain was opened and suddenly Matt found himself face to face with an unrecognizable women. "Who are..." Her hand fazed through the faucet and Matt was greeted with burning hot water in the face. Near, having stayed close to the sink, avoided the spray. Safe to say that room was crossed off the list.

The next room they checked was a small closet. Matt was greeted with flying towels and the disappearance of his left shoe, which he later found glued to the ceiling out in the poop brown colored hallway. Or at least that was what he though until they started padding across it. They stopped over his head and began to fall. Near had stood by the door and watched silently. Closet, definitely a no-go.

They checked the dining room, which was painted a wine red. A long table sat in the center, covered by a pristine white cloth; however, you could not tell that at first, as it was decorated with rusted plates and bent silverware.

Matt saw what looked like to be a butler before the cloth shifted and he found himself dodging plates. Near had hidden himself behind a chair with a broken leg. No sign of Mello in the dining room.

Next came the basement. It was cold, smelled of age, and Matt could hear the dripping of water as he climbed down the staircase. He already had a bad feeling about this. Midway down the lights began to flicker. Right before it went black he noticed a cat playing with the light switch. He tried to feel his way with his feet, but epically failed, finding his foot going through the step, leading him to find himself sprawled out on the cold stone, right as the room became bright once more. Near was sitting on the step, not having moved since the lights went out. Mello was not in the basement either it seemed.

Clambering up a different set of stairs, the two entered the kitchen. It was painted a soft green and consisted of broken down oak cabinets.

At this point Matt was paranoid. He was eying the knives, fearing that the may float over and stab him. That should not have been what he was worried about.

The fridge door opened with a creek and out came the food. A little raven-haired boy had a ketchup bottle in his hands, a slender teenage male stood by his side with a slingshot full of eggs. There was a pigtailed girl with a bag of tomatoes, and a dishwater blonde tomboy with asparagus arrows.

"Fuck my life."

The children seemed to let out a war cry; Matt was barraged by vegetables, grains, and meat alike. Near had ducked behind the island. Once again, no Mello had appeared.

After this they entered a sun room with an indoor pool. Chlorinated water never seemed so ominous as it did now. After all, Matt couldn't swim.

They are going to drown me. As soon as Matt thought that he felt a tug on his shirt. "No! I'm to young to die!" he screamed before he hit the water. Turns out it was only three feet deep.

"Well that was anti-climatic,"stated Near, "But at least you aren't covered in food anymore." And, of course, he was unharmed and not soaked. He sat by the edge of the pool, playing with a semi-flat beach-ball. And, as usual, there was no Mello.

Going outside was out of the question. It was winter, the season of the freezing cold weather Mello hated. So instead they found themselves in the library (not like that was much better than outside, considering Mello wasn't a big fan of books either).

Matt found himself horrified when he was met with the sight of a little blonde girl and a huge dog. But he relaxed when he saw that they were not paying attention to him at all, being to preoccupied with each other. Looks like he would not have to deal with ghosts in this room.

Of course, when he thinks this, the girl chases the dog into a bookcase and it starts falling, toward him. Matt ducks and screams like a little girl, and then there is a loud crash. The books fall from the shelves and hit Matt, but the bookcase is held up by the table next to him. Near stands right beside the bookcase, just barely out of range.

"That's it! I'm done!" cries Matt.

"No! We have to find Mello!"

"Screw that cunt!"

"Matt please!"

"Bloody hell Near! I'm not looking for him, and that is final!"

"But..." And then he was crying. Near, Mr. robot himself, was crying, real tears.

"Hey. Don't cry. Near, come on." Matt wrapped the boy into a hug, attempting to calm him down.

Matt had no clue what to do. It was Near. He was the one without emotions. It had always been that way. Yet, here the boy was, crying in his arms. Today was just not Matt's day.

"Hey! There you two are!"

Matt looked over his shoulder to see a certain blonde menace.

"Mello!" Near cried before he was clinging to the blonde nuisance.

"Where the hell have you been!" screamed Matt.

"I got side-tracked."

The ginger's eye twitched. "And whatever caught your attention Mello?"

"There was this really pretty chocolate container in the living room, but I couldn't find anything in it. And then I realized that I totally was craving chocolate, so I went back to Whammy's to grab some. Then..."

"I get it! Your selfish fucking self left us for your stupid ass chocolate!"

"What's your problem?"

"You left me to deal with emotional, not-so-robot, over here; to be mobbed by spirits, fall through holey stairs, almost get crushed by a bookcase, and all the other cliché shit that happens in a haunted mansion; just to search for your royal assholeness, who ditched us!"

"Um... Sorry?"

"You better be, you prick."

Back To Present Time

"I can't believe I'm doing this again." And beside Matt was a beaming Near.